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Hiring

Don’t forget—New rules in place for new hires

10/01/2007

As of July 1, Georgia public employers and the contractors and subcontractors that provide services and goods for public employers are required to comply with the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act of 2006. The Georgia Department of Labor has promulgated new rules requiring employers to provide employment eligibility verification to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security …

Keeping I-9 forms in separate file: Is it mandatory?

10/01/2007

Q. I’ve read that we shouldn’t keep employees’ I-9s in their personnel files. Is this a suggestion or are there laws that require them to be in separate files? —L.K., Alabama …

Report finds day laborers only a small part of work force

10/01/2007

A July 25 report issued by the Public Policy Institute of California has found that day laborers make up only a small percentage of the state work force. According to “Day Labor in the Golden State,” only about 40,000 people are working or looking for work as day laborers each day in California …

H-1B visa abuse costs Iselin tech company back wages, penalties

10/01/2007

The U.S. Labor Department has ordered Technologies500, of Iselin, to pay $537,189 in back wages to 36 computer programmers it hired under the H-1B visa program. The software company, also known as Cybersoftec.com, failed to pay the workers prevailing wages from January 2004 to November 2005. The department also levied fines of $162,750 …

Human trafficking brings ‘Modern-Day slaves’ to salons

10/01/2007

Federal agents recently arrested two men and a woman from Togo, alleging that they had smuggled at least 20 women and girls into the United States to work in hair-braiding salons in Newark and East Orange. Apparently, the “employees” worked without pay and were housed by their employers …

Isolated incident or slight doesn’t add up to retaliation

10/01/2007

No matter what you do, the workplace will never be free of tensions and annoyances. Although it’s a good idea to encourage courtesy and cordiality, you don’t have to worry that every little slight might come back in the form of a lawsuit …

Have zero tolerance for offensive national-Origin comments

10/01/2007

A nation embroiled in war tends to be jittery and tempers run high. When anger and emotion seep into the workplace, things can get ugly. That’s why it’s important to remind everyone that you won’t tolerate comments, gags or jokes aimed at employees who may share ethnicity, religion or national origins with the “enemy” …

New regulations issued regarding Social Security ‘No-Match’ letters

10/01/2007

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued new final regulations detailing how employers must respond to Social Security “no-match” letters. That means employers that receive no-match letters now have new legal obligations when it comes to verifying and maintaining federal I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification documents …

Interview and consider applicants even if they’re receiving SSD payments

10/01/2007

Applicants and employees who are so disabled they are eligible for Social Security Disability (SSD) payments can still sue for disability discrimination under state law. Why? Because claiming you are totally disabled and unable to work (as required to get SSD benefits) doesn’t mean you don’t think you could do some type of work with reasonable accommodations …

Know applicant’s race? Don’t try to deny the obvious

10/01/2007

You know you aren’t supposed to consider race in hiring decisions. And ideally your organization takes steps to ensure the hiring process is as color-blind as possible. But let’s face facts: Sometimes the person screening applications is going to know the job-seeker’s race (especially when a current employee seeks a promotion). Denying that fact won’t help you if an applicant who doesn’t get the job decides to sue—and it may actually hurt. The applicant can raise the denial as evidence of illegal motive or intent …